I have a oriental burmese type cat called mister which I rescued, he is about 6 yrs old and I've had him for a year.

We are an adult household but my little grandson is brought around by his parents weekly. Every now and then when I'm least expecting it, mister will attack the baby for no reason. I could understand it if the baby was pulling his tail or such but no, mister will reach out and bite him. The baby is now 18mnths and as gentle as can be with cats in general but mister seems to hate him anyway.

A couple of months ago mister attacked my sister who is a big cat lover, he sprang four feet in the air, turned on his side and raked her arm with his claws.

He has attacked us at times but we know the warning signs and either put a laundry basket on him or eyeball him, daring him to try it.

But most of the time he's as sweet a companion as you could want, he likes to share air with you, close as can be, likes to be played with (a mouse on a string) and this we do often. He likes traveling in the car. He calls loudly when entering the house wondering where everyone is. We are gentle with him.

But now I'm wondering if he's going to be a long-stayer after all and I would not give him away because he can't be trusted, the alternative is the final trip to the vets. Have you any advice?

get your vet to refer you to a feline behaviourist.

Good advice. It's got to be worth exploring every possibility before taking drastic action

As above.I have a ragdoll kitten ,11 months old now,who displayed aggression in a similar fashion ,but was more inclined to biting than scratching.I saw two behaviourists as his behaviour was so unpredictable and nothing I was doing was working.By just sitting and watching the behaviour patterns for around an hour,the second behaviourist ,also a vet,was able to advise how to handle the "trigger" area's to his aggression.He has come on so well with the help of the behaviourist,he is not perfect,probably never will be,but he is now a much happier,more even tempered cat.What is more important ,I now know how to react to any given situation which has helped greatly.Good luck it is well worth trying,and you have the support of this forum should you need it.I possibly would have given up with out the help and support of the good folks on here.

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Thanks for you comments.

I've never heard of such a person in Auckland, New Zealand being available for such help and even then, we are not wealthy people so we must look for a solution for ourselves.

One thing we have noticed is that if we feed him his preferred cheap cat biscuits he will be worse. So we have a more expensive kind on which he seems calmer but he's less keen on them. Trouble is, he roams free and sometimes comes home with a full stomach.

The other day before attacking the baby and his older cousin(15), he refused to eat the better biscuits and went without for two days, raiding the rubbish bin instead for chicken dinner discards. So last night we ditched that lot of biscuits and opened a new bag. He seemed to like them but then stopped eating and went elsewhere for his dinner. So I'm assuming that some neighbour close by is feeding his cat the cheap biscuits which Mister is raiding.

Foodwise, he will not eat raw red meat or many of the other treats cats usually like. He will eat cooked chicken and fish. He drinks water well, even though he prefers it from the tiolet bowl and we have to keep the lids down.

He had a go at my husband this morning who tolerates it well. I have a delicate skin so I get quite wary of him at times likes this.

I have a first aid kit I call the Kat Kit with bandages and antiseptic solution. My husband has a strange bump on his arm that has never really healed after a cat attack so I take every precaution now.

No idea where you living but NZ seems like a long way to go to get the help of a cat behaviourist???

Mercy, I try to help people where I can, but .... how can I say this... behaviour issues can so easily be worsened if they are not tackled in the correct manner. If you were having minor issues with your cat, I would try to help you, but to be honest, I feel totally out of my depth with the problems your cat is presenting with. I would be petrified my well intentioned efforts back fired and left you (and him) worse off than you are now.

I did have a look on the net and there are feline bahviourists in Auckland.

If you can't afford a behaviourist .... the best suggestion I can give is to buy a book written by a feline behaviourist and possibly see if that would help. But I really do think you have to make sure (for your sake and that cats) that his behaviour doesn't get worse when you attempt to try out new strategies for dealing with him.

Another thing I would do immediately is to buy enough feliways diffusers to cover your home. They are not cheap, but they are the first step in tacking behaviour problems. If you google FELIWAY the website will tell you more than I can.

All the best.

I have a cat who would suddenly turn - took him to the vets and a course of painkillers helped him, something must have happened to him which he couldn't tell us, which made him unhappy. The vet also suggested Feliway as a plug in and spray and also some herbal tablets called zyclene which are calming. He is much better now but still can't stand to be touched near his tail/back. Good luck, hope you get mister sorted...

I guess I didn't realise that trying to alter a cat's behaviour would be nearly impossible without spending a lot of dough. I'll have a talk to hubby about it.

Here is a photo of Mister and Hubby in the bathroom. What a hoot!

I don’t think anyone said it was impossible without spending a lot of money. It doesn’t have to cost anything if we know what we’re doing and are well versed on recognizing , dealing with and countering behavior problems. But as most of us don’t know what we’re doing, we pay for professionals to guide us. Professionals come at a price. Aids like Feliway just ease and support the whole process, but also come at a price. I happen to think a couple of home visits from a behaviourist and a couple of feliway diffusers is a small price to pay for a happy well adjusted cat. Compared to the price of some commom feline health ailments, treating behaviour problems isn't that expensive. The hourly rate of a behaviourist is generally lower than the hourly rate of a vet. Many behaviour problems, left untreated, start to manifest in physical problems too.